Spring Ultimate- Past and Present

For the past two springs, I was a Dickinson Jive Turkey with the aspirations to make it to Regionals. I still remember freshman year at Sectionals in the horrible weather at Edinboro. We had in my opinion, the best Jive team in our history. In still what I would rate as one of my hardest losses at college, or in my career perhaps was losing to Bucknell 15-12 with a bid to Regionals on the line. We fell behind 5-0 before calling a timeout. In a brutal up-down wind, we battled back with a couple breaks but we couldnt get that final upwind break. That Jive 2008 team could have done something at Regionals with two weeks of hard practice under their belts. Instead it is the season of 'what ifs'

The 2009 spring season for The Jive Turkeys flourished as fast as it deteriorated. Coming off our possibly greatest and my personal favorite win in Jive, a 13-12 thriller over NYU (which should be a whole blog post in itself) , we got beat up in the semis by an athletic Georgetown team. A 13-4 shellacking where we lost Jack Colicchio for up to 6 weeks, one our best players to a broken collarbone. Tracko had carried Dickinson to an upset over James Madison with 7 goals in pool play.

That was the precedent set for 2009. Lot of talent with a chance to be better than 2008 but like that year, bad luck. We came into Savannah without Jack but added Chappers, the image and legend of the Jive Turkeys. On the second point of the tournament against that same Bucknell team, Ducksworth Mazzoli toar his ACL while making a great catch in the endzone to tie it at 1. He was also one of our best players who was done for the year. That doesnt just hurt the team talent wise, but it is losing a teammate. You wont be practicing, training or playing with them. You both dont share the same aspirations to make it to Regionals. The loss of Tracko and Ducks meant the loss of probably our two best defenders. For a team as thin as we were, we were put in a hole that would of taken a miracle to dig out of.

We represented ourselves well at 2009 Sectionals yet we thought the whole time: what could of been? We had an incredible win over Penn State who for more than anything, I am so happy to all the seniors on our team who I knew that meant so much to them. The 2009 Jive class was the last of an era. They had started with the team that was a different kind of Jive Turkey and for better or worse, saw the transformation of the team from one era of Jive Turkey's to the next.

We lost to Edinboro in what was a foreseen conclusion but we battled for it. Still, that win over Penn State for our seniors ended the season on a good note.

For this Spring 2010, I am not a Jive Turkey. I will be again but for this season, I am not. This is probably one of the hardest things I had to sacrifice coming abroad. I will miss the 2010 Spring Season more then I can describe. A last chance to push for that goal of making regionals with Seniors Ducks and Andy Schachter, who I have played the majority of my games as a Jive Turkey with. This is one of the most exiting times for this team who I believe have an abundance of talent from top to bottom. The impressive development showed by the Sophomores and the incredible raw talent of our Freshman class has the team set up well for the future as well as now.

All I can say about 2010, I will be listening, digging out every piece of information and eagerly watching what you guys can accomplish, which is a lot more than what a lot of people think. 2010 has the talent and complexity of a team that can go far and a make a run for a regionals birth. And as selfish as this may sound, 2010 will put our team in an even better position for 2011.

So I am in London and I am finally playing Ultimate. I may not be attached to one team like the Jive Turkey's but I am playing with goals and aspirations. This Spring season is more about me getting better than the success of my team. That will be the focus come Pike/Phillly 2010 Club and Dickinson Jive Turkey's 2011, but for now I am focusing on me.

Queen Mary did not have a team but that didn't stop us. We will be entering a group of players numbering somewhere in the single digits to Student Regionals next weekend. CANNOT WAIT for that. So I guess I did make it to college regionals after all. I have played in the Indoor Nationals in Glasgow, Scotland this past weekend and will have a full blog post on that. Incredible weekend! I have practiced twice with Clapham, a club team in England that has had numerous success and recognition over the past few years.

Both two hour practices I have attended for Clapham were the best 2 hour sessions of frisbee I have had. The pace of the drills, the talent around me and the expectations for this team, all combine for some serious ultimate. This Thursday I did a track out with Colin, Britney and Lindsey and besides an early 800 got my butt whooped all around the track. But hey, thats the starting point for 2010. This Sunday I will finally get a chance to play outdoor 7 v.7 with one of the two Clapham teams. The competition is supposed to be great and I should have 2-3 games. I CANNOT WAIT FOR THIS. Yea ok you get the point. Things are heating up after a slow start for frisbee here in London. Check back for updates. Time to start making moves.

P.S.- Schachter: I want my JMU preview sometime before the tournament

Go Skim Milk!